I worked in retail for 6 years, and these are the subtle ways clothing stores get you to spend more money

Eye-catching signs and “tailored” styling advice at clothing stores can get you to spend more money than you originally planned.

source

Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Clothing stores use subtle strategies to get you to spend more money without thinking twice, even if you walk in with a set budget.

Sales associates are trained to up-sell and cross-sell, suggesting both more expensive items and additional items based on customers’ needs and desires.

Companies meticulously arrange their stores to optimize visual details, cater to shopping patterns, and keep the customer in the store for as long as possible.

I worked in retail for six years, and these are some of the specific strategies my managers instructed me and my coworkers to use.

Many of us overbuy more often than we’d like to admit.

You walk into a store with a clear mission to purchase a new pair of shoes or a shirt for work, but the moment you see red sale signs and pristine stacks of clothing, your goal gets a bit hazy. Not to mention, a friendly salesperson helped grab your sizes and explained the fit. You leave the store two bags heavier and a receipt with five times what you planned on spending.

Eye-catching signs and “tailored” styling advice can certainly prey on your self-control, but retailers’ tactics aren’t always obvious. They often use the smallest detail to entice you to spend more, from the way they arrange the floor to the strategies they tell their sales associates to use.

I worked in retail for six years as a sales associate for companies like Ralph Lauren and Fossil, and my managers always gave me and my coworkers specific strategies to get customers to pick up more items and spend more at the registers.

Here are some of the subtle ways stores get you to spend more without thinking twice:

They place their top sellers at the front of the store.

caption

American Eagle keeps its denim walls at the front of the store.

source

Hollis Johnson

Most stores arrange their floor plans so that the first things you see are the newest, most expensive, or most popular items, and the markdowns are all the way in the back. This is so that the pricier items will catch your attention first, and hopefully you’ll be more apt to have a handful of full-price pieces by the time you reach their sale section.

Brands that specialize in denim, like American Eagle and Gap for example, will always keep their jeans toward the front of the store.When I worked at Fossil in Times Square for the holiday season, they kept their new smartwatches at the front of the store so that people walking by the windows would see them immediately and want to try them on.

They keep less stock on the floor.

caption

Some stores will only hang one to five units per style to keep racks from looking too full.

source

Jennifer Ortakales

While H&M and Zara keep their racks jam-packed, many retailers believe less is more. If they have fewer items on the floor, you’ll likely assume they have less stock in the back – and hurry to buy your size before it sells out.

Sale signs can be deceiving — but they’re not wrong either.

caption

Fine print at the very bottom of this sign says “select styles,” so there could be pairs of shorts on the table that have prices other than what’s advertised.

source

Jennifer Ortakales

Look carefully at signs advertising huge markdowns in large font. They will most likely have phrases like “starting at,” “from,” “up to,” or “select styles” in fine print. That could mean the promotion only includes a couple items on that entire rack, but it likely gets you to look through it all anyway.

According to theFederal Trade Commission, an advertisement is considered deceptive if “it causes or is likely to cause substantial consumer injury which a consumer could not reasonably avoid, and it is not outweighed by the benefit to consumers.”

A sale sign is unlikely to cause much harm to a customer, but it can still be frustrating. I’ve dealt with many angry customers who were convinced a large percentage followed by an asterisk and fine print was illegal.

They sell products in sets.

caption

On this wall, not only is suiting hung in full sets, but they’ve also been paired with ties, shoes, and bags to match.

source

Jennifer Ortakales

Companies know that if a customer loves one item, they’re more likely to buy another item that matches or complements it. This is called “cross-selling.”

Clothing brands use the strategy a lot with the patterns and textiles they choose – you’ll often see the same exact floral print on a pair of pants, a top, a jacket, and a skirt. If you fall in love with the pants, you’ll probably want the top, too.

The same goes for athletic wear or a handbag and matching wallet.

They get you to slow down with “speed bumps.”

caption

A rack that juts into the middle of an aisle interrupts the flow of traffic and gets you to pause, and perhaps, take a second look.

source

Michael Buckner / Getty Images

If you’ve ever wondered why an aisle feels crowded with just a few people, it’s not accidental. Stores will place what visual merchandisers call “speed bumps,” like tables or racks, that jut out from the aisle to get customers to slow down. The last thing they want is for someone to be in and out within a couple minutes, so they arrange tables and displays to obstruct the natural walking flow of the floor plan.

The slower you walk, the more items will catch your eye.

They display products in outfits or “groupings.”

caption

Stores have a specific styling formula based on their style and how they want customers to envision wearing their clothes.

source

Jennifer Ortakales

You’ll rarely see a mannequin displaying just one item. Stores want you to picture how you could style their products, then buy all of the pieces instead of one. So they layer pieces and add accessories to make a look more relatable. On racks, they’ll often alternate tops and bottoms, or “groupings,” instead of only hanging like pieces together.

Every brand has carefully cultivated its own formula, so to keep it consistent across locations, corporate offices send out handbooks with placement and styling instructions for sales associates to follow.

They make it “personal.”

caption

Personalized embroidery on jeans adds a unique touch to make customers feel special.

source

Hollis Johnson

More than ever, stores are using personalization as a selling point because they know thatcustomers love ownership and branding.Even if thousands of the same jacket are manufactured, the customer will take pride in it when it bears their name, initials, or a unique design.

Even if you’re not looking for a personalized product like a monogrammed handbag or an embroidered jacket, a salesperson may point you to one that can be personalized. They’ll tell you that a watch with interchangeable straps is more versatile than one with normal straps, or that debossing a leather wallet will make a gift more special. They may run a promotion that allows customers to receive free embroidery with a pair of jeans or a jacket they purchase.

They exaggerate the thickness of products.

caption

Shirts, sweatshirts, and pants are folded precisely to be symmetrical and thick, which is more appealing to customers than flat, thin stacks.

source

Jennifer Ortakales

Customers are not attracted to flat or empty clothing displays. That’s why when I worked at PacSun and Scotch & Soda, we had very specific instructions for folding shirts and stacking jeans.

At the latter company, we were told that stacks should look “like books,” so we would shake pants and shirts out often, fold them to look as thick as possible, and would do an entire stack over again if they weren’t thick enough.

They hype up the popularity of an item.

caption

Stores want to build up demand for their products.

source

Jennifer Ortakales

One of the strategies I was told as an associate at Ralph Lauren’s now-defunct Denim & Supply store was to tell customers that a particular pair of jeans was Lauren’s “favorite” and that it was our “most popular” wash.

Most companies really do research their most popular styles in depth – that’s also how they determine production and restock numbers. But a sales associate will often run with that information, either telling a customer they should buy an in-demand product before it runs out, or pegging the customer as a major trend follower who will immediately grab the pieces that are “hot this season.”

Employees may be competing for prizes.

caption

Sales associates can be helpful, but they may also have personal motives in mind.

source

Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Most retailers hold competitions for their employees to win cash bonuses or free products. If your salesperson seems overly eager to help you, they may be competing with their colleagues for the most sales or highest UPT (units per transaction).

So while a friendly sales associate is trying to help you, keep in mind that they’re also keeping a tally of the number of items you’re considering, the price points of each one, and thinking of ways to maximize your total.

They place their sale section close to the fitting rooms.

caption

Sale or clearance sections are usually placed at the back of the store by the fitting rooms.

source

Jennifer Ortakales

Most stores keep their sale or clearance section at the back of the store, right by the fitting rooms, so that customers are enticed by the discounts to add more to an already heavy armful.

When sale items are placed at the front of the store, customers are more likely to browse those racks first, bypass all the full-price items, and head straight for the fitting rooms.

They suggest “add-on” items.

caption

Basics like tank tops can add to your total without you noticing.

source

Jennifer Ortakales

While a sales associate directs you to a fitting room, they may add a basic like a t-shirt or undergarment to your dressing room.

They’ll likely say it will help you try your item on, to see how it looks with something similar to what you may already have, but with the hope that you’ll add it to your purchase.

They make dressing rooms without mirrors.

caption

Mirrors outside the fitting rooms give sales associates the perfect moment to talk you into a purchase.

source

Jennifer Ortakales

Some stores place mirrors outside the dressing room, rather than inside, so sales associates can talk you into a purchase and offer suggestions.

When I worked at Scotch & Soda, the fitting rooms were 360 degrees of curtains, and customers had to step outside to look in the mirror. It gave us stylists touchpoints to check in, ask the customer what they thought, help with sizing, and most importantly, compliment the customer and boost their ego.

Most stores do have mirrors inside the dressing rooms, but the mirrors with the best lighting are out on the floor.

They can be very vague about upcoming or future sales.

caption

Stores don’t usually disclose when future markdowns will happen so as not to jeopardize an immediate sale.

source

Jennifer Ortakales

Nine times out of 10, sales associates know when sales or markdowns are coming (or at least a general idea, if not the exact date).But stores want you to buy now, at full-price, so they’ll be vague if you ask when they’re having their next sale.

If they do tell you when to expect a sale, they may use that as a further selling point and tell you to grab your size or color now before it runs out.

They create an environment to “hang out.”

caption

The AE Studio in Union Square has a lounge for students and teens to hang around when they’re not shopping.

source

Hollis Johnson

Companies are facing more stress than ever to not only get customers into their stores, but to offer them an experience worth staying a while. A sitting area with plush leather couches used to suffice in Abercrombie’s heyday, but now stores have upped the ante.

Design elements like neon lights and tropical wallpaper are Instagram bait.Luxury stores like Theory have addedin-store coffee shops.American Eagle wants their AE Studio in Union Square to be a hang-out spot for NYU students by offering free laundry, a study space, and drinks.

This tactic seems like just another way stores get you to buy – the longer you stay, the more likely you are to spend. But there’s also a long-term goal: brand loyalty.Brick-and-mortaris a risky asset for most companies, so many view their stores as an experience-based opportunity to keep their brand on customers’ minds, whether they buy in-store or online.